the mortal devices
by donniesyx
Summary: A compilation of random oneshot's involving TMI and TID characters laying around my desktop collecting dust. latest: Alec thinks he's used to the fact that copious amounts of glitter and overdramatic living arrangements were in the fine print of being in a relationship with the high warlock of Brooklyn - until he realizes what a simple task like watching tv can do to his boyfriend.
1. Chapter 1

_ Akright, so this is just basically a bunch of one-shots for fun - if they contain any lemon or M rated language, i'll let you know. but besides some suggestive remarks and lots of glitter, I think this one's safe. Enjoy!_

Magnus' apartment was always a surprise. Alec never knew what to expect when he climbed up the familiar creaky stairs to his boyfriend's ever-changing room.

Today, after he turned his key - the key he'd had to stop himself from flaunting around because it was, in fact, _his own key into his boyfriend's apartment_ - into the lock and pushed the door open with the side of his hip, he stopped. And stared. The two coffees he was holding nearly clattered to the floor.

He tried not to gape at the scene in front of him. The walls were painted dark green, a mess of what should have been potted plants, but were merely messy clumps of dirt and roots, scattered around the room, and _was that a live animal?_

Sure enough, after it spotted him, the bundle of fur scampered away. Alec was guessing by the quick glance he got that it was a mole, but he couldn't have been sure. It had dissapeared into the brush too quickly. "Magnus?" He called out hesitantly.

"_Ha!_" In a blur, the eighteen year old Shadowhunter was knocked onto the ground, the coffee cups bursting open and spilling scalding liquid all over the floor - and caking Alec. He swore and rolled over, batting at the steaming drink to try and cool down his burning skin.

Tawny eyes stared back at him, an arrogant smirk in front of him. "Jace, what the hell?!" He sputtered, the coffee ignored. A few months ago, being this close to his parabatai would have sent a mix of feelings through him. But ever since the demon wards had been taken down in Alicante almost a year ago, he'd been able to come to terms with his crush on Jace and focus solely on his relationship with Magnus.

"Your disco ball of a boyfriend invited me over to play some sort of game he had set up." Jace rolled off the ground and dusted off his pants, running a hand through his blonde locks, "When I got here, the place was like this. He didn't tell you what was going on, did he?"

"Was that obvious?" Alec grumbled and smacked the hand Jace offered him, picking himself of the ground without his help, "What the hell is going on?"

"Survivor of the fittest." The younger Shadowhunter grinned at him, "Everyone's here. Clary and Isabelle tag teamed the instant they stepped foot inside and Magnus dragged Lewis off with him, saying something about how if he was going to be a blood-sucking monster, he had to look the part." Jace shrugged, "I've been waiting for you to show up."

_Everyone?_ Alec groaned internally and looked around. "Partners?" The two clapped hands in agreement and walked around, eyes flicking over every nook and cranny someone could be hiding in. Magnus' apartment wasn't that big, which made the fact that they hadn't stumbled upon anybody twenty minutes later incredibly surprising.

Sounds of a scuffle alerted the pair to where Clary and Simon were dualing with each other, although it was obvious Clary had the upper hand - her shadowhunter training was being overseen by Jace, who wouldn't let them joke around, so she was actually learning. Pair that with the fact that the poor vampire kept getting his cape tangled around his legs - apparently Magnus actually _had_ dressed him up for the occasion - and he didn't have a chance.

After a few moments, he fell to the ground and Clary took the kill, jumping up and 'stabbing' him with a small plastic knife the warlock had probably conjured up for the event. In moments, the man himself appeared, dirt smeared across his cheek, hair pulled into a small ponytail on the top of his head, and his dark eyeliner illuminating his cat eyes. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and his chest was bare. After winking at Alec, he began to spar with Isabelle. Jace and Alec joined the throng and began smacking around.

He hadn't even realized the amount of fun he was having until he was dragged away, the smell of sandalwood coating him. Alec smiled lightly and allowed himself to be pulled away into Magnus' bedroom, which, like the rest of the house, was done up to look like some sort of jungle. Magnus bat a hanging vine out of his way and turned around, grinning widely.

"Sorry about the last minute change of plans, I know we were supposed to be having a quiet night watching movies, but Survivor came on and I couldn't help myself."

Alec shook his head in exasperation, though he was still smiling, "Trust you to switch everything at the last moment. This is quite romantic." The sarcasm was heavy in his voice.

"What's not romantic about stabbing your friends and boyfriend with plastic swords?"

"It concerns me that you have to ask that."

"Would you have prefered I got real swords?"

He sighed, "I would have prefered - " His sentence was cut off as Magnus moved forward and captured his lips mid-sentence, pulling him flush against him. It always amazed him how the two of them seemed to fit so perfectly together, as if in all of the years Magnus had been alive, it had always been for him. Alec liked the thought.

Feeling bold, his fingers skimmed the lean stomach in front of him, feeling his muscle's tighten at the light brushes. Their mouth's curled up against each other's in sync, the warlock's hands tangling in Alec's black hair. He sighed in content.

After a moment, the door smashed open, and the two pulled apart to see the rest of the group staring at them. Jace was laughing hysterically while Clary tried to shush him, Simon looked sick, and Isabelle had one eyebrow quirked.

"I don't think that's how Survivor works." Alec's sister crossed her arms with a bemused expression on her face.

"Maybe we've just been playing it wrong." Jace grinned at Clary and raised his eyebrows suggestively. Simon gagged at the two of them.

"Alright kiddies." Magnus flicked his hands, blue sparks lighting the air, "Time to get out. We're playing a new game."

Alec turned to him, confused, "Are we now?"

"It's called Sex in the City." His grin widened, "And we're taking it literally."

Simon was the first out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

She hadn't seen him in so long.

His hair was dark, spiked in all sorts of directions. Different colours streaked the strands, a slight shimmer reflecting off the sun's rays. He held his head down low, hands stuffed in his pockets. He might look the same as when she'd seen him last, but everything had changed. _He _had changed. He was no longer the outgoing person she'd remembered, and the glimmer of amusement that was always present in his almond-shaped cat eyes had been dulled to a sad longing.

The High Warlock of Brooklyn had seen better days.

"Tessa, darling." He gave a small smile that did nothing to distinguish the agony in every line of his face, "It's been so long."

"Too long." She enveloped him in a tight hug and squeezed, running her fingers over his shoulder's comfortingly. She could feel him take a deep breath, and when he pulled back, he looked more collected.

Her gaze slid over beside him, realizing he wasn't alone. The figure beside him looked familiar, with shaggy brown hair and a lonely expression. He dipped his head in greeting, and spoke softly, "Simon Lewis."

Tessa nodded, "Right, I've met you a few times, with - " Her voice cracked, and he flinched. They stared at each other for a few moments in silence before averting their eyes. "I'm glad you could come."

The three of them walked down the road, slipping through wired gates and padding down the soft grass to a small patch of stones. Immediately, they all went to their designated spots. They had all been there so many times that the ground was worn out from the constant weight of them standing on it.

It was nothing compared to the weight on their shoulders.

Tessa bent down and stroked the stone with a small smile on her face, thinking back as she read the words, _In loving memory, William Owen Herondale, 1861-1937._ Right next to it, carved to look almost identical, was the grave of James Carstairs. Rain started to drip down overhead.

She thought back to the first time she'd met Will, with his dark hair and blue eyes, looking at her in shock as she proceeded to throw a large vase at him. He'd been so surprised. He'd been so beautiful, up until the day he died.

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her reverie. Beside her, Magnus smiled softly down at the ground, "He'd never want you to cry, Tessa." No, not rain. Tears. She brushed them off her cheeks and smiled up at him.

"Have you been to his yet?" The warlock shook his head. Taking his hand lightly, she kissed her fingertips and placed it to the grave of the two loves of her life and stepped away, feeling as if something had been torn from her. It was the same feeling she'd gotten the day each of them had died - and it never went away.

A small, plain headstone stuck out of the ground. Alexander Gideon Lightwood. Beside it, Tessa could faintly see Simon's head bent down in front of another. His hand partly obsecured the name, but she knew what it read. Isabelle.

Magnus didn't seem to know what to do, staring down in open shock as if it hadn't been thirty years since he'd died, leaving a hollow man behind. He twisted the wedding band on his finger, knuckles white.

"He was always so afraid of this." He said quietly, "Of him growing up, and me leaving him. That I'd stop loving him." Tessa merely looked over in silence, watching as he shook his head, "I've never stopped." She didn't think he ever would.

Will had died years before, thousgh the pain was still fresh. Jem had grown up and become a Silent Brother, until the cure was finally found and he'd left, becoming a mortal once more. Tessa married him, had his child, and the two lived together for twenty-five years. Then the demon toxin had come back, and he'd refused to become a Silent Brother once more.

Jace Herondale had died in battle, the warriors death he'd always wanted - his wife, Clary, nursed their two children and then died later on in a raid. Isabelle died that night as well, two weeks prior to her and Simon's wedding date. Alec had grown older, lived to his mid-thirties. Then he'd gotten attacked by a demon and poisoned. There was nothing Magnus could have done - he died holding onto him. Tessa stared wistfully down at the headstones, feeling the chill ghost over her skin.

People weren't meant to last forever.


End file.
